Nebulous
by Krimzon Flygon
Summary: 3 years have passed since the Metarex wars, and a new threat arises. Sonic and Tails must stop the sinister assassin Nebulous. Taismo, Sonamy, and brief Taiream. Also includes a new shipping I named Knucxina. Rated for Language and Character Death.
1. Darkness

Nebulous

by

Krimzon Flygon

(A/N: I'm baaaaaaaaaack! I hope I do good with my first Sonic X fanfic. Well, here goes...)

Disclaimer: I own Nebulous and Rowan, but nothing else.

Chapter 1

Darkness

* * *

Miles "Tails" Prower slowly opened his eyes as his senses returned to him. He felt something wet against his face and he quickly sat up, the book on jet propulsion he had fallen asleep on plastered to his face with his drool. It slipped off and hit the table with a soft thud. Normally he would have chuckled at this, but he didn't even manage a smile. It was not surprising, considering what had happened to him.

It had been three years since Cosmo died.

Tails' eyes filled with tears as he thought of his one true love, the beautiful plant girl who had sacrificed herself to destroy the Metarex, a horrible cyborg species of alien who had planned to wipe out all animal life forms in the universe. His heart burned as he remembered his last glimpse of his other half as she vanished into the light generated by the sonic cannon.

The cannon. Tails actually grinned this time, a dead, emotionless grin. The cannon was gone, dismantled. Tails knew it was stupid to get rid of it, but he actually was able to get to sleep once Cosmo's destroyer was no more.

But he knew that it wasn't all the cannons fault. _He_ was the one who hit the trigger. _He _was the one who killed Cosmo...and himself.

There was one thing keeping him alive, really. He smiled as he looked over at the blooming rose in a small brown ceramic pot on his desk. The rose had grown from a seed Sonic had found after the explosion. He reached out and softly stroked one of the small green leaves on it. For a second, he felt something stir in his heart, but then that feeling too disappeared. A tear fell from his eye and dropped into the soil, and was absorbed instantly. Suddenly Tails heard a knock at the door. He stood and walked over to it, peeking into the eyepiece in the door. Standing on the other side, from what he could see, was a giant green eye and a big grin. He opened the door. "Hey Sonic." He said.

"Hey Tails!" Said Sonic. "I just bought Halo 3, so you wanna go over to my house and play it?"

Tails looked away. "Yeah...okay..."

Sonic raised an eyebrow. "Tails, you okay? You don't look so good."

Tails shrugged. "Yeah..." He looked up. "You know what happened three years back, right?"

Sonic sighed. "Tails, I know. I miss her too, but you can't let this rule your life. Cosmo wouldn't want that for you."

Tails glared at him. "Thanks to me, we'll never know what Cosmo would want, will we?" He said icily.

Sonic frowned. "I doubt she would want you to blame yourself either. She loved you too much for that." Tails fell to his knees and began to sob. Sonic had never heard such pain coming from the young fox. He slowly backed away, knowing Tails would not want to be interrupted. Maybe it would be better for him to get all this emotion out. Tails looked up at the sky.

"Cosmo...why..."

* * *

A blinding light lit up the void of space, as a large craft came out of hyperspace. It was large, streamlined and silver, with red stripes running on the sides of it. It was the Nightshade, the cruiser belonging to the most feared man in the galaxy. However, the most feared man was having a bit of trouble currently...

"ROWAN!" Roared a green and black alien. This was Nebulous, the most feared assassin in the entire galaxy. He was young, very young, only about 18. His long, jet-black hair flowed down to his shoulder, and a lock of it covered his left eye. But his most distinguishing feature were the two black wooden 'horns' growing from his head, and the amethyst on his chest; that's right readers, Nebulous was a Seedrian! He stormed up to the Nightshade's main console, hitting a button. A monitor glowed and a face appeared. "Yes, master Nebulous?" He asked.

Nebulous pointed to an open hatch on the computer. "Rowan, what is that in the disk drive?" he asked the AI.

"I do not know, sir."

Nebulous took a deep breath through his...er...nose, and tried to speak calmly. "Rowan, look at the disk drive and tell me what you see."

Rowan looked at it. "There is a slice of bologna in the disk drive, sir."

"_Right!_" Said Nebulous. "Now could you tell me exactly why that is?"

"I do not know, sir."

"_ROWAN_!" Shouted Nebulous. "_Was the disk drive WITH YOU all day today!?"_

"Yes sir."

"Did you put bologna in the disk drive?"

"Yes, sir."

"How?" Shouted Nebulous. "You're a face on a screen!"

"I do not know sir."

Three years of being stuck on this junkyard of a ship having conversations like this and you were ready to punch the monitor in. Nebulous sighed and pulled the stale lunch meat out of the disk drive, then began to clean it with a wet-nap. "Fine, Rowan. Just tell me when Dad calls, I need to give him a status report."

"He is currently holding on line 2."

Nebulous slowly looked up. "_How long has he been holding?_"

"Three and two fifths hours sir."

"GODDAMMIT ROWAN!"

* * *

"I am so sorry, Dad. Rowan was being a knucklehead again." Said Nebulous to the figure on the screen.

"_Do you have ANY idea how long I've been on hold_?" Even with his green mask on, it was more than obvious that the leader of the Metarex was cheesed.

"Yeah, I'm sorry, Dad. But I have good news...I found it." Nebulous said eagerly. "I finally got a lock on her gem signature. And the best news is I'm right near her; she won't escape this time."

"That's what you said on the colony, Nebulous. You didn't get her then." Said Dark Oak.

"I know, Dad. The thing is, though, I've been tracking this kid for three frinkin' years." Said Nebulous. "And now, I've got this kid right where I got her. And when I get my hands on her..." In a blinding movement, he whipped his arm in a crescent arc. A glass of coffee fell in half, cut in two by the scythe in Nebulous' hand.

Dark Oak gave an invisible smile. "Good. Oak out." The screen went blank, and was replaced by Rowan.

"Were are we going, sir?"

Nebulous held up his scythe and ran his finger lovingly down the sharp blade, cutting himself. "Mobius." He said. "But first, stop at that gas station. I kind of got in the moment during the conversation with Dad and...uh..." He held up the cut glass sheepishly. "Me need coffee."

* * *

"Excuse me, sir?"

Nebulous took a huge swig of the latte in his hand. "What?"

"Do you own that big silver and red ship?"

"Yeah, that's the Nightshade. Why, are my lights on?"

"No, but it just took off just by itself."

"...!!!!!!!!!!"

* * *

(A/N: If you are reading this, you have successfully completed this chapter. Please Review. Thank you.)


	2. Meteor

Chapter 2

Meteor

(A/N: I have returned. Sorry it took a while to update, but I brought a new chapter with me!)

* * *

"Oh, oh, oh COME ON! Tails, can't you just _pretend_ to be new at Halo?" Sonic shouted playfully; the score was currently Sixteen-Love.

Guess who was ahead?

Tails grinned. "Look, Sonic, just because you snapped me out of my funk doesn't mean I'm gonna go easy on..."

"SWORDCANCEL!"

"AAGH!" Sixteen-One.

Tails gripped his controller and patiently waited for the re-spawn counter to hit zero. Suddenly, Sonic held up a finger, staring at the cieling. "Wait, Tails."

"Nice try, Sonic."

Sonic slowly shook his head. "No. Don't you feel that?"

Tails paused. "No."

Sonic put his finger down, but continued to stare at the ceiling for a few seconds, then looked at his friend. "Seriously. I felt something really weird. It was like a sense of foreboding, like something...or some_one_ really bad's coming..."

"DROPPED YOUR GUARD!"

"DAMMIT!" Seventeen-One.

* * *

"Repeat after me...I, Rowan..." Said Nebulous, trying to restrain himself from smashing the monitor with his scythe handle.

"I, Rowan..." Said Rowan.

"Will never, ever again..."

"Will never, ever again..."

"Take off without my master..."

"Take off without my master..."

"_Or else._" The Seedrian assassin finished with a murderous snarl. He had to jack a guy's speeder, hotwire it, chase after his ship, and dock with it _while the cruise engines were running_. And worst of all...he had forgotten his latte. Needless to say, he was reasonably pissed off. However, he controlled himself and sat down in his chair. "Okay Rowan, _now_ you can take off to Mobius."

"But sir, you just got through saying..."

"NOW, ROWAN!"

* * *

"There it is..." Said Nebulous, staring through the invisi-steel windshield at the blue and green planet below. He reached out and pressed a button.

Instantly, Dark Oak appeared on the screen. "Yes?"

"I have arrived at Mobius. I shall start the mission immediately." Said Nebulous eagerly.

"Remember." Said Dark Oak. "You are not to harm her."

Nebulous pulled out a cloth and began cleaning his scythe casually. "Yeah, yeah, I know. A dead Seedrian's not too good for a sacrifice, is it?"

"Yes, so I say this seriously...don't screw up."

"Okay, okay, I'm going!" Shouted Nebulous, throwing his scythe down on the floor and running off with the cloth. He stopped, then walked sheepishly back to the scythe, picked it up and dropped the cloth, then ran to the teleporter. Dark Oak rolled his eyes, then blinked out.

* * *

Nebulous stepped into the teleporter and prepared for transfer. "Okay, Rowan. Beam me..." No sooner than he said it when the entire ship gave a sickening lurch, knocking the bravo clean off his feet. "ROWAN!"

"It was not me, sir! It is a meteor storm!"

"SAY WHAT?!" Nebulous tore out of the teleporter room and into the control room. He grabbed the joystick and pulled the accelerator. The ship's cruise engines fired, propelling them out of the shower of detritus. He stood up again and staggered back to the teleporters. "I'm gonna have an ulcer by the time this crap is over."

* * *

There was a knock at Sonic's door. Sonic stood up and put down his controller. "Who could that be?" He walked out of the family room, paused, then glanced back at Tails. "_No free kills while I'm gone_."

Tails stood up. "Don't worry, I'll come too." He said, running to Sonic's side as he opened the door.

"Amy!" Said Sonic. "What's up?"

Amy Rose the Hedgehog looked, to say the least, in a big hurry. "Sonic, Tails, get out here. There's this huge meteor shower!"

* * *

"Wow..." Said Sonic. Thousands of points of light lit up the skies, burning brightly for an instant before vanishing into nothingness.

"There's so many..." He looked around and saw the three were not alone; There was Cream the Rabbit, Vanilla, her mother, and Cheese, Cream's pet Chao, who were sitting on a picnic blanket. Knuckles the Echidna was leaning against a nearby rock and gazing up at the spectacle with a bemused expression on his face. Sonic stared up at the sky, and he felt a soft hand slip into his own. He glanced over at Amy.

_Well, maybe just this once._

Suddenly he heard an odd choking noise next to him. He looked at Tails. The poor kitsune was quivering like a machine on overload about to fly apart. Tears dripped down his muzzle, and he looked like he was trying to compose himself before he fell apart completely. Suddenly, he turned around and dashed back into the house, slamming the door behind him. Sonic stared.

"There was a meteor storm when Cosmo first came to Earth." Amy explained. Sonic nodded.

"Oh, that explains it..." Suddenly, he felt someone pull on his hand. He looked down to see Cream staring up at him.

"Um, Mr. Sonic? Can I go see Tails? Maybe I can cheer him up."

Sonic smiled. "Sure thing, Cream. Go right in." Cream smiled, beckoned to Cheese and ran into Sonic's house. Sonic grinned.

"Life is good." He said, looking back up at the meteors.

* * *

Unfortunately, the team did not notice a cold blue eye staring at them from a nearby tree. Nebulous grinned. "Well, well...So these are the great heroes Dad told me about..."

"YES, AND IF YOU UNDERESTIMATE THEM, YOU WILL BE MAKING THE SAME MISTAKE I DID." Oak's voice boomed through Nebulous's earpiece, causing the Seedrian to scream in agony and fall out of the tree.

* * *

Sonic looked up. "You hear something?"

Amy looked around. "No."

* * *

Nebulous gripped his ear and panted for breath. "Dad...the volume..."

There was a soft click over the earpiece and then Oak's voice, at a normal volume this time. "What happened? Was the volume too high?"

"_Too high?_" Nebulous laughed painfully. "Yeah, let's just leave it at that...Anyway, you wouldn't believe who's watching a meteor storm on this planet...the blue rat, red anteater, pink rat, fox, rabbit, the whole deal. The problem is, Cosmo's off the grid: she's not here."

"Hmm." Dark Oak murmured. "Okay. Nebulous, you are not to harm any of them. You are not to be seen. They may come in use later. For now, you are to find out where Cosmo is. Do some reconnaissance to find White Seed."

"Got it, Dad." Said Nebulous. "Nebulous out." He tried to stand up, but thanks to the tremendous blast of sound directed right into his left ear, the semi-circular canals in his ear that kept his balance were still disturbed. The result: he found himself flat on his face. "Dammit."

* * *

"It looks like they're slowing down." Said Sonic. "Anyway, that was quite a windfall." He turned to Tails. "Feeling better?"

"Yeah." Said Tails. Cream giggled. "We talked about the good times we had with Cosmo, and it made us both feel better."

"Cream! Cheese!" Called Vanilla. "Time to go!" Cream stood up.

"Goodbye, everyone." She called as she ran after her mother. Knuckles sat up.

"I'd best be heading back too." He said, waving goodbye as he ran off to Angel Island. Tails wound up and flew off with a goodbye of his own. Finally it was just Amy and Sonic.

"You know..." Amy began. "Falling stars are meteors like we saw today. With so many falling stars our wishes are bound to come true. What did you wish for, Sonic...Sonic?"

He was gone.

"SONIC, YOU ALWAYS DO THIS!"

End chapter 2

(A/N: Thanks for reading. Please leave a long review and proceed to either exit.)


	3. Tragedy

Chapter 3

Tragedy

(A/N: Here we go again. Thank you so much for reviews, everyone! This chapter may contain some subjects unsuitable for some people; nothing too bad, but I guess it's time to put the 'character death' into practice...uh, oh.)

* * *

Tails slowly hovered to the ground outside his workshop and dusted himself off. Pulling out the key, he opened the door and stepped inside. Instantly, his eyes flicked to the plant. He smiled and walked over to it, picking up a metal watering can. Suddenly, his ear twitched as he heard the rumble of thunder in the distance. He looked out the window as the first few drops of rain hit it. The light, soothing, rhythmic beating of rain began on his roof. He looked back at the plant and raised the watering can.

KERAK-BOOM!

Tails' eyes widened in horror as he saw an ominous shadow flash on the floor, illuminated by what had to be the hugest lightning bolt in the history of thunderstorms. The watering can dropped from his hands and clanged to the floor, splashing water all over Tails' shoes, soaking them thoroughly. He stared out the window, scanning the birch tree standing outside for the caster of the shadow.

The tree was empty; bare of leaves and evil shadows.

Tails shook his head to clear it, trying to calm his pounding heart. "Must have been my imagination." He told himself, reaching down with a trembling hand to pick up the now dented watering can, still staring out the window. He walked into the kitchen, filled it to the brim and walked back to the plant, his wet shoes making comical squelching noises the entire trip.

* * *

Nebulous finished drying his head off and tossed the towel into the laundry room, then walked back to his chair. "Rowan, put me through to Dad. I have a feeling he's not gonna like this."

"Yes sir." Rowan said. Instantly, a picture of Colonel Sanders' head appeared, with what appeared to be a huge Mickey Mouse glove punching it repeatedly.

"Rowan, what the hell is that?" Nebulous said calmly.

"A Colonel Sanders head getting punched by a Mickey Mouse glove."

"Precisely. PUT DAD ON VIDPHONE, ROWAN!"

"Yes sir."

Instantly Dark Oak reappeared on the screen. "Did you find Cosmo?"

"Yeah...but..."

"What?" Dark Oak shouted. "What do you mean?"

Nebulous flinched. "Okay, I have some good news, some bad news, and some _more_ good news. The good news is I found Cosmo. The bad news...er...she...she's already...botanized."

There was about 10 seconds of silence, then...

"_What_?"

"Dad, calm down." Nebulous said quickly. "The good news is..."

Dark Oak gave a chuckle. "I spend _three whole years_ stuck in this godforsaken dimension, only to find that my only ticket out of here has gone to Shangri-la...and you..._expect me_..._to __**CALM DOWN!**_" He roared.

Nebulous slowly creaked an eye open. It didn't help that the air conditioner had just come on by itself at full blast, blowing him back into his chair. "Dad...she's coming back soon."

Dark Oak slowly stopped hyperventilating. "What?"

Nebulous slowly peeled himself off the chair. "That plant was pulsing with chaos energy. Events like this rarely happen, but as I like to say, be prepared.

"Usually, when a Seedrian dies, it turns into a tree. However, with the activation of certain techniques, like Chaos Regeneration, a seed is formed. With the proper care, the seed will grow into a flower, and in about four years tops, the plant will regenerate into a Seedrian." He said. "So it's _not_ over."

Dark Oak sighed. "Okay, good. It's time to put part two of my revenge into play, and we will start by killing one of the inhabitants of this planet."

Nebulous shook his head. "And you want me to intentionally blow my cover, and perhaps the entire mission...because _why_?"

"So they will follow you."

Nebulous stopped for a second, and then a sadistic grin spread across his face. "Oh, _no_. No. You can't be planning...that idea is AWESOME!"

"Yes. However, you are not to kill the blue one. He is mine." Said Oak. "Oak out."

The screen went blank and Nebulous sat back in his chair. "Don't worry, Dad. I picked my target already. Pity; it was not her time yet." He slowly reached down and picked up his scythe, then looked up at Rowan. "Rowan, listen closely, because it's imperative that this goes flawlessly."

Instantly, gameplay of Doom 3 appeared on the screen, depicting the main character putting a mancubus through a shotgun meat grinder.

"Rowan, pay attention!" Rowan appeared. "Good. Now I want you to be ready to beam me up the instant I'm under the ship, got it?"

"Yes, sir."

Nebulous drew back a bit. "Really? You understand it?

"Yes, sir."

Nebulous grinned. "Good, Rowan. Remember, the _instant_ I'm under the ship."

"Yes, sir."

Nebulous nodded and stood up.

* * *

Cream dashed into the house, making sure to wipe her feet, of course. Even though the sudden rainstorm soaked her to the bone, that was no reason to get the floor dirty. Vanilla smiled. "Why don't you and Cheese go upstairs and dry off. I know the perfect remedy for something like this."

"Y-yes, M-m-mother." Cream chattered, accompanied by Creams chorus of "Chao, Chao!"

A few minutes later...

Vanilla tucked Cream and Cheese tightly into bed. "Comfy?" She asked.

"Yes, Mother. Putting my pajamas in the dryer was a great idea. Thank you."

"Chao Chao!"

Vanilla gave her daughter and her friend each a kiss. "Always helped me get to bed during a rainstorm." She walked to the door, hitting the light switch on the way out, "Good night, Cream."

"Goodnight, Mother."

Vanilla closed the door behind her and smiled. "What a wonderful child."

"I agree." A deep voice spoke from a shadowy corner. "All the more reason for me to regret what I must do."

Vanilla gave a yelp and leapt backwards. She stared into the shadows to see a dark silhouette. It turned its head to look at her, and his single visible eye, cold and blue, seemed to gleam as brightly as the scythe in his hand.

Vanilla screamed.

* * *

Cream sat up abruptly at the sound of a scream out in the hall. She leapt out of bed, closely followed by Cheese. She dashed into the hall and skidded to a halt as her jaw dropped in horror. A huge green figure towered over something that was sprawled on the floor. He slowly turned toward her. At first, Cream thought that the stranger didn't have eyes, but as he completed his turn, she saw that the being had a leaf-like object growing from his head that covered one his eyes. But his other eye was visible: a deep shade of electric blue. _The exact same shade as Cosmo_. Cream thought. But while her late friend's eyes were warm and filled with kindness and love, this one's eyes were cold, mean and frightening. _He's a Seedrian!_ Cream realized in disbelief. _But, they're supposed to be all dead!_ Her eyes panned down the intruder's body and noticed something in his hands: it was a huge, ornate battle scythe, like the grim reaper's. Cream stared at the blade and retched; it was coated in crimson blood. Cheese gave a squeal of horror at the same time that Cream's hands shot to her mouth: she recognized the being on the floor.

"M-m-mommy?" She gasped. Vanilla didn't answer...and she wasn't breathing. "MOMMY!" The being slowly walked toward the terrified bunny. She stared in terror as the being towered over her. He slowly reached out and placed his hand kindly on her head. She gave a scream and dashed backwards, pressing against the wall. "Who are you!"

The Seedrian stared off into the window next to him. Cream saw something that confirmed her suspicions about the interloper's species: two black, wood-like horns grew from his head, and the fern-like black hair that he had grown in mullet. "I have many names." He said in a deep, almost soothing voice. "Harvester. Weapons Master. Reaper. But in reality, I have only one true identity: Nebulous the Thorndrigan."

Cream's state of shock faded, to be replaced by rage. "What have you done to Mother!" She shouted as hot tears sprang to her eyes.

Nebulous turned and walked to the motionless heap on the ground. "Death is a fickle thing, isn't it? It steals all without compassion or remorse: young, old, male, female, Seedrian..." He paused and a horrible grin spread across his face. "Rabbit. It is unfortunate that your mother's time had to come at this point in her life." He reached down and softly stroked Vanilla's fur. "So beautiful..."

"STOP IT!" Screamed Cream as tears poured down her face. "WHY WOULD YOU DO SUCH A THING?"

Nebulous stood erect and turned back to the terrified rabbit on the ground. "Fear not, young one. Your time is not at hand yet. All will become clear soon. Right now, I have some business to attend to." He pointed his scythe to the door. "Well? There has been a murder. Go tell your friends." His grin widened and he looked truly mad now. "I will be waiting." Suddenly, a storm of sakura petals exploded around him. It spiraled in a twister, and when it faded, Nebulous was gone. Cream gave one last terrified look at her mother's body, and ran out the door.

* * *

Sonic slowly came to his senses as he heard a wild beating at his door. "Okay, okay, I'm coming." He drawled sleepily as he walked to the door. Opening it, he saw a shocking sight: Cream was gasping for breath out in the rain, like she had been running for the entire trip. "Cream? Cream, what's wrong?"

Cream stood rigid out in the pouring squall for a second, and then dashed forward, wrapped her arms around Sonic and began to sob loudly.

* * *

Sonic poured Cream a steaming mug of hot chocolate and gave it to the shivering bunny, who slowly picked it up and clumsily took a sip. Sonic was quiet until she put the cup down. "Can you tell me exactly what happened?"

Cream mouthed silently for a few seconds, then spoke in a quavering voice. "Well...I heard a scream...out in the hall. I went out to see what had...had happened. I saw...saw..." Her voice broke off for a few seconds, and then she shouted; "SHE WAS DEAD! MOMMY WAS ON THE FLOOR, AND SHE WAS DEAD!"

Sonic's heart stopped. _Vanilla's dead? N-no! It can't be!_ He thought. He collected himself, realising it would just make the situation worse. He took a deep breath. "Do you know who did it?"

Cream took another tentative sip of her chocolate. "Yes...he was standing over her body. He said his name was Nebulous, and he...he was a Seedrian, Mr. Sonic!"

Sonic opened his mouth, then stopped, realizing that telling Cream that her Mother's murderer didn't exist was not a bright idea. "What did he look like?" He asked.

"He was tall...he was well-built. He had long black hair down to his shoulders." Cream said. "He was green, like Cosmo, and he had this green leaf over his left eye, but his right eye..." she gave a frightened shiver. "It was blue...and it was really, really angry and cold. He wore a purple necklace, and he had black wooden horns, and he was holding a really big scythe and it was all covered in blood, and, and..." Her voice cut off and she dissolved into frantic tears, as the cup slipped from her hands. Sonic frantically set the cup upright and took Cream in his arms. She immediately clung to him, sobbing into his shoulder.

"Shh..." He said softly. "It's okay, Cream. It's okay. We'll find this guy. Do you know where he went?"

"Yeph..." Cream said, her voice muffled by the hedgehog's shoulders. "He said he had some business to attend to..."

Sonic was so shocked that he nearly dropped the rabbit. "No...no..." He murmered. "Oh, crap."

Cream was so shocked by Sonic's language, she stopped crying. "Mr. _Sonic_!" She said incredulously.

"Sorry." Sonic said quickly. "But I think I know what this guy is after."

"What's that, Mr. Sonic? The Chaos Emeralds?" Cream asked.

"Maybe...but there's another target he might be after...think about what species he is." Sonic said.

Cream's eyes dilated in horror. "Cosmo's plant...TAILS! We gotta save him!" She said, and together, the two friends dashed out the door into the rain, hoping beyond hope that they were not too late...

* * *

(A/N: Yeesh. That was a little dark, even for _me_! Nebulous is such a monster! Sorry if it scared you, and don't begin hating this fic, because it won't be _nearly _as dark from now on. Review please. I LOVE REVIEWS!


	4. Failure

(A/N: Hello, Flygon here. I have some bad news: Due to unforseen circumstances, this fanfic is officially discontinued...April fools! Here's chapter 4!)

Chapter 4

Failure

* * *

The pouring rain peppered Sonic as he dashed as fast as he could to the Mystic Ruins, hoping that he could get there before this 'Nebulous' did. He looked back over his shoulder to see a flapping ear; Cream was holding on to the blue blur with all her strength, trying not to fly off. "How you doing back there, Cream?" He called.

"J-j-j-j-j-j-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-s-s-s-s-s-s-t-t-t-fi-i-i-i-i-ne, Mr. S-o-o-o-o-o-ni-i-i-i-ic! She called, her voice quavering from the speed at which they were traveling. Sonic saw a darkened silhouette of a house approaching: Tails' workshop. _Almost there! Please be_ _all right, Bro._ He thought, putting on an extra burst of speed. Arriving at the front door, he screeched to a stop, nearly sending Cream flying off of him. _No . . . _

The door was ajar.

Cream shook her head to clear it and jumped down from the hedgie, staring at the open door. Listening over the rain, she could hear strange, metallic clanging noises from within. "We're too late, Mr. Sonic! Nebulous got here before we did!"

Sonic shook his head. "Listen! It sounds like Tails is fighting him! Come on, he may need our help!" He said, dashing into the house, followed by Cream. Running into Tails's garage, the two came to an abrupt halt. The kitsune was standing defiantly in front of the rose, holding a heavy crescent wrench and gasping for breath. Before him towered the imposing figure of Nebulous. Cream gave a squeak and hid behind Sonic's back at the sight of the evil Seedrian, who was currently standing with his arms crossed, and seemed to be reasoning with Tails.

"I'm only going to say this one more time, Two-Tails. Hand over the plant before I take it by force." He said calmly.

Tails raised his makeshift weapon. "NEVER!" He shouted, and with a feral roar, he charged at the Thorndrigan, who seemed to move in the blink of an eye, swinging his scythe and knocking the wrench clean out of Tails's hands with a clang; it flew through the air and clattered on the ground, cut clean in half. Sonic had seen enough. He took a few steps forward, but was stopped by Tails's furious shout.

"STAY OUT OF THIS, SONIC!" He ordered. "HE'S _MINE_!" He charged at Nebulous, who punched him almost casually in the gut. Tails bent over, the wind knocked out him. The assassin grabbed him and flung him backwards, where he crashed into the wall and slid down. Sonic cringed.

_I...didn't even see him move!_ He thought, remembering how fast he had swung his scythe. _Come on, legs . . . move! Why can't I move?!_

Nebulous dusted his hands off. "Well, that was time-consuming." He said. "Now, I'll just collect the horticulture and be on my way." He walked calmly toward the plant, then stopped short. Looking down, he saw that Tails had grabbed onto his leg. "Please let go of my leg."

"That rose means more to me than life itself." Tails snarled.

"What are you, the frinkin' _Beast_ or something? Leggo!" Nebulous shouted, kicking the kitsune in the head. Tails instantly let go of his leg, collapsing to the ground. Sonic's finally snapped out of his daze.

"TAILS!" He shouted, hurtling forward. Nebulous was just reaching out for the flower when he saw Sonic running toward him. With a twist of his body, he whipped the scythe at the blue hedgehog. Sonic ducked out of the way . . . and right into a high-powered kick to the chest that sent him backwards into Cream, and the two went crashing out the door. Nebulous put his scythe away and turned back to the plant.

"Soon, Dad. Very soon . . . " He said, reaching out and stroking the plant's stem. Suddenly he reached back and grabbed his finger. "YEOWCH! Gaah!" He swore. A thorn had just popped out of the stem and dug deep into his finger. "You little . . . " He said, reaching out and picking it up by the ceramic pot and dashed out the door, stepping over the unconscious bodies of Cream and Sonic on his way out. Sonic slowly pushed himself up, just in time to see Nebulous run off. His daze seemed to vanish and he jumped to his feet, pulling the groggy Cream to her feet. "Hang on Cream. Let's go!" He said, slinging her onto his back.

"Mr. Sonic? Wha . . . WHOA!"

* * *

Nebulous dashed through the woods as fast as he could, looking occasionally over his shoulder. He screeched to a stop in front of a symbol in the ground. He pulled out his scythe and looked around. "Come on, you louse, where _are _you?"

"Looking for someone?" Nebulous turned to see Sonic and Cream stepped out of the darkness. "I don't know who you are, or what you want with that plant, or what in the hell possessed you to kill a little girl's mother, but I do know that you are going DOWN!"

Nebulous chuckled softly, and the darkness seemed to make his blue eye glow. "As I told the child, my name is Nebulous." He looked down at the rose in his hands. "And I'm not quite ready to tell you anything else." He slowly stepped backwards toward the symbol. "If you really want to find out, though, go into space . . . look for the Nightshade . . . I will be waiting for you. Until then, farewell." He stepped onto the symbol. There was a few seconds of silence, in which the assassin seemed to be waiting. He rolled his visible eye and brought his hand up to his left ear, muttering something about 'inept'.

"Rowan . . . what part of 'as soon as I'm under the ship' didn't you understand? BEAM ME UP, ROWAN!"

Sonic dashed forward just as Nebulous and the plant vanished in a flash of light. Sonic's wild haymaker hit nothing but air; he tripped over his own feet and fell flat on his face. He turned over to see the light fade out. His face fell as he heard Cream say. "No." The plant was gone.

They had failed.

* * *

Sonic and Cream walked back into Tails's house. Sonic looked down at the unconscious inventor on the ground and walked over to him. Leaning down, he softly shook his shoulder.

"Uhnn . . . " Tails groaned as he slowly sat up. He immediately looked over to his desk and his eyes widened. "Sonic . . . Cosmo . . . "

"Tails . . . I tried, but . . . "

Tails grabbed Sonic by the collar and pulled him right to his face. "Where is she?! WHERE IS COSMO, SONIC?! TELL ME!" His voice broke off and he collapsed to his knees, sobbing wholeheartedly. "Tell me . . . "

* * *

"So let me get this straight." Said Knuckles from where he sat on the couch. "There's an evil Seedrian out there that calls himself Nebulous?"

Sonic nodded. "Yeah. And like I said, he killed Vanilla, then beat up Tails and I, stole the plant, and ran off."

Amy shook her head sadly. "Vanilla . . . how could this happen . . . " She turned to Cream, who was staring emptily at the floor. "Cream. I'm so sorry."

"..." Cream was silent.

Knuckles shook his head. "But, how is this possible? Cosmo said that she was the last of her kind, and she's . . . well, you know."

Sonic gave a chuckle. "Well, he exists all right: I think I've got one of his footprints on my chest! And as for Cosmo, her plant is in the hands of this psycho."

Amy turned to her longtime crush. "Speaking of Cosmo . . . " She looked at Tails, who hadn't said a word since he had broke down. "Tails, are you all right?"

"I promised I would protect her, always . . . " Tails said in a broken, hollow voice. "I couldn't save her when she was alive, and I couldn't even protect her plant . . . I feel so . . . so useless."

"I remember he said something weird about the plant, though." Sonic said suddenly. "Something about if we wanted to find out, he would be waiting for us . . . "

Tails' head shot up. "What?" He shouted. "He's waiting for us?! Let's go after him, then!" He shot up off the couch and began to run toward the garage, but was stopped by Sonic's firm hand on his shoulder.

"Whoa! Easy there, little man." He said. "Think about it. He killed Vanilla, then stole the plant. Then we found him standing near his ship, like he was _waiting_ for us. He wants us to chase him for some reason. That means that we can't just charge in there: we'll be playing right into his hands."

Tails shrugged his best friend's hand off. "I promised to protect her, and I will. If you want to come with me, then let's go. Otherwise, stay back."

Sonic drew back for a second, then gripped Tails's shoulders. "Listen closely Tails, Don't think for a second I'm saying that I don't want her back, she was my friend too, but this guy is in a league all his own! If you go out there half-cocked, you'll be charging to your doom! If you get yourself killed, I would never forgive myself, so we are going to take a breath, and figure out what our next move is!"

Tails glared viciously at his friend for a few seconds, then hung his head. "You're right . . . I want to save Cosmo, but we'll never win if we just charge in."

"We have no choice." Said Knuckles, and they turned to look at him. "The only way to approach him is to follow him into space."

"And he's protected." Said Amy. "He took the plant into his ship. We can't shoot him down without destroying the plant."

"Hostage situation." Muttered Sonic. "All right, we have no choice but to find out what this bozo wants."

* * *

Rowan blinked onto the screen and stared at his master, who was hunched over something in his hands. "Sir Nebulous?"

Nebulous jumped, and slowly looked up. He held up what was in his hands: a Nintendo DS. "You made me loose a life, Rowan. You know how I feel about being interrupted."

"So sorry, sir. However, the Hedgehog and his friends are approaching the Nightshade."

Nebulous closed the DS and put it down with a chortle. "Well, I suppose that _is_ a bit more important than Contra 4. Okay, Rowan, now for the fun part." He reached out and picked his scythe up. "You are to fly just ahead of them; speed up as they speed up, and slow down as they do. When we guarantee they are following us, I'll take it from there. So let's go, Rowan. The fate of the Metarex rests on us."

"Yes, Sir."

_Do what you want 'cause a pirate is free, you are a pirate! Yar, har..._

"...ROWAN!"

"So sorry, sir."

The Nightshades primary thrusters engaged, and the ship began moving forwards at a casual speed. Nebulous sat back in his seat.

"I picked a hell of a day to have you for an AI, Rowan."

* * *

Tails slowly guided the X Tornado toward the large silver craft hovering before them. "Whoa. Now, _that's_ a craft." He said enviously, staring at the emblem emblazoned on the side: an open black flower with a grinning skull in the center. "I hate to say it, but that guy must have state of the art _everything_: Weaponry, boosters, shields...I bet he's got a really advanced AI too!" He reached out and pressed the communications button. "This is the X Tornado. You wanted us to follow you, but why?"

There was a few seconds of silence, then the thrusters on the Nightshade fired, propelling it forward. Sonic raised an eyebrow from where he sat next to Tails. "That's weird. He tells us to follow him, and then he runs. What's with that?"

Tails pushed the thrusters forward. "I don't care. We're going after him."

10 minutes later...

Nebulous looked in the rear camera to see the Tornado still following them. "Persistent. Good." He said, and the insane grin lit his features again. "Alright, Rowan. Lets do this." He reached out with both hands, palms facing outward, chanting words no human could try to pronounce. In front of the Nightshade, a huge, black portal appeared: a gaping wound in the very fabric of space. The Nightshade put on speed and launched into the portal.

* * *

Sonic's eyes widened as the enemy ship vanished into a portal that had appeared out of nowhere. "What in..." He said in shock. "We're not going _in_ there, are we?"

Tails gritted his teeth. "Damn right we're going in there. Why not?"

Sonic stared at the void before them. "Tails, I got a really bad feeling about that thing." There was a unanimous agreement from Amy, Knuckles, and Cream.

"Cosmo's in there." Tails said. "We're going in." He pushed the thrusters, and the X Tornado pursued the Nightshade into the dark portal, which closed behind them.

* * *

(A/N: Tails' love for Cosmo orders him to enter a mysterious portal that has appeared in the void, but will the forces of good triumph, or are they playing right into the evil Nebulous' hands? Find out next time! Also, I have a picture of Nebulous. I did not draw it, but my good friend Psychic-Girl did. For some reason, unfortionately, the link won't completely show up. It's on Deviantart, so search Nebulous Seedrian, Nebulous Sonic, any of those, and it should pop up. Sorry for the inconvenience, but I hope you like the pic! As always, read and leave a nice, long Review!)


	5. Atrum

Chapter 5

Atrum

(A/N: Okay, people. First off, thanks for all the reviews! I luf reviews! So here's chapter 5!)

Disclaimer: This chapter contains a weapon called Gun-Arrows. I do not own them. They are used by Xigbar from Kingdom Hearts 2, which belongs to Disney and Square Enix.

* * *

"Whoa..." Sonic said in disbelief. "Where are we?"

The portal that had opened in front of the Nightshade had led the team to a desolate world: huge, countless rock platforms floated above a sea of nothing. Darkness that seemed to stretch out forever surrounded them. The world seemed to be one of nothingness. Amy gave a frightened shiver from where she sat next to Sonic. "I don't like this place, Sonic..."

Tails stared around the darkness. "Why would he bring us here?" He stared at the Nightshade, which hovered just in front of them. Suddenly, a high-pitched screeching noise filled the Tornado. Sonic, Knuckles, Amy and Cream covered their ears in shock and pain, while Tails struggled with the controls.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!" Sonic shouted over the piercing scream.

"Sonic pulse!" Tails called back. "He's overloading my systems! Gotta make a landing, so hang on!" The fox guided the shuddering craft to one of the larger scraps of rock, making a perfect three-point landing.

Sonic shook his head. "My ears..." he said, amongst similar complaints from the rest of the crew.

Tails staggered to his feet. "Come on, guys. This ship's not going anywhere until I make repairs." The crew jumped out of the ship and onto the rock.

"Guys." Knuckles held up a large hand. "I hear something."

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!"

Suddenly there was a bang and a huge burst of smoke exploded out of the ground, causing the Mobians to whirl around. Nebulous slowly stepped out of the smokescreen, a huge grin on his face. "Wonderful! _Wonderful_! I never DREAMED it would go this smoothly!"

Sonic glared daggers at the alien. "_You_." He growled. Cream clenched her fists in rage. Nebulous's grin widened, as if that was even possible.

"Well done! You've helped me immensely in my mission! For that, you have my eternal thanks." He said.

"What the _hell_ are you palavering about?!" Snarled Tails. Nebulous threw his head back and laughed.

"HAHAHAH! Don't you get it, you fools!? You fell right into my trap! My mission is as good as accomplished!"

"Explain!" Knuckles ordered. "What do you mean?"

Nebulous grinned. "It is useless to explain myself to a dead man." He raised his scythe. "My orders were to spare the blue one. Your friends..." He said to Sonic. "Shall die right here." He sucked on his lower lip, thinking. "But who to kill first?" He looked from Tails, to Amy, to Knuckles, to Cream, then stopped. "Yesss." He hissed. "You shall die first, Rabbit. But do not worry. You will soon be with your dear mother...in Hell."

Sonic raised his fists in preparation for a fight he knew he couldn't win. Nebulous took a few steps forward, then stopped, parrying something that had flown from another rock: a strange, pink glowing projectile. He glanced upwards, then his eyes widened: a huge storm of the projectiles flew directly at him. Nebulous spun his scythe before him like a baton, deflecting the assault. "Who's there!?" He barked.

A shadow leaped down from the rock and landed between Nebulous and Cream. It stood, aiming a weird weapon at the Seedrian. It looked like some sort of blaster, but it had what appeared to be pink diamonds spreading down the outer edge of a circular handgrip. It had a sideways metal ring on the top of it, which had a pink needle-like object protruding out of its front, which was aimed directly between Nebulous's eyes.

The assassin chuckled. "How troublesome...on second thought, forget it. I have the plant, and it doesn't matter if I kill you or not; you're not getting out of here anyway." He said as he vanished in a swirl of flower petals. "Don't think about following me, either!" His voice echoed.

The Mobian's savior put the blaster down, which seemed to deactivate, as the needle and ammo vanished. The being put the blaster on its back, on which rested another blaster.

Sonic finally got the lump out of his throat. "Who...who are you?"

The being slowly turned, and Sonic's eyes widened. The being that had quite possibly saved their lives was yet another Seedrian; this one however, was different from both Cosmo and Nebulous. It was clearly a female, indicated by the blue leaf-like dress she wore. Instead of flower buds on the sides of her head, she had a daisy-like flower on the top of her long blue hair that reached her shoulders. Gold cuffs encircled her wrists, and a shining emerald amulet hung around her neck. Knuckles stared, and a small blush unintentionally formed across his nose. _She's...beautiful._ He thought against his will.

The Seedrian closed her violet eyes. "My name...is Galaxina"

* * *

"So Galaxina," Began Sonic. "Why did you save us, and what is this place?"

Galaxina took a sip of the tea that Cream had made the group: thankfully, Tails was able to get the stove up and running after the pulse that had grounded them. "This place is called the Atrum Universitas: the Dark World. It is a world of pure nothingness, into which all can enter, but none can escape. As for why I saved you..." She took another sip. "Well, I couldn't just stand there let that guy _kill _you."

"So why are you here, Miss Galaxina?" Asked Cream. Galaxina giggled slightly at the rabbit's politeness.

"Well, you said you know about the attack on my planet, and how I had to escape with the other Petalis. As you probably know, we lived on a colony for a while, but then I accidently...I mean..." She stammered suddenly. "Er, the enemy found us, and attacked our colony. I had just enough time to send myself here, and escape the explosion. The rest of the colony..." Her voice choked off.

"Hey, Galaxina. That Seedrian we fought, his name is Nebulous. Have you heard of him?" Asked Amy.

Galaxina gave a sudden twitch, accidently spilling some tea.

"Galaxina, are you okay?" Asked Knuckles.

"Um...yes." She said finally. "I actually have heard of him..."

"So who is he?" Asked Sonic.

"Well..." Galaxina stuttered. "He's, uh, he's the most feared assassin in the galaxy. He's said to have never failed a mission, and just the mention of his name sends criminals running in fear. He is well versed in weaponry, earning him the name of Weapons Master, but his weapon of choice is a scythe. Other than that, I have no idea who he is.

"Now here's a question. He mentioned a plant. What was he talking about?"

"That plant used to be another Seedrian. Her name was Cosmo and..." Tails' voice choked off. Galaxina's eyes widened.

"Cosmo? She's here?" She asked in shock.

"Yes...but she's dead." Sonic said sadly. "She left behind a seed that grew into a plant, though, and Nebulous stole it. Why do you ask? Did you know her?"

Galaxina looked away. "Yeah. She was my...best friend on the colony. I'm glad she didn't die in the explosion..."

"Okayyy..." Knuckles said, taken slightly aback by the Petali's strange answer. "Well, can you tell me more about this Atrum place?"

"This world was originally postulated by a Seedrian scientist. He found that opposite Greengate, there was the Atrum. This dimension could be entered through a certain chant, but the portal could not be opened again from the inside.

"However, there is a way to exit, but it was...well, if someone opens the portal, you must kill one of the person's species while in the Atrum Universitas in order to escape it, so obviously, people were not so keen on entering this place."

Tails suddenly looked up, a shocked look on his face. "_Of course_. I can't believe I didn't see it before!"

"See what?" The rest of the crew asked simultaneously.

Tails stared around the table. "Don't you get it? Nebulous sent us into the Dark World along with him. And remember what he took with him?"

Sonic sat up, nearly dropping his mug of tea. "Cosmo's plant! Oh, no..."

Amy shook her head, shocked. "Whoa, whoa, _whoa_." She said. "Are you saying that creep wants to sacrifice her plant? But why?"

"What do you mean, Amy?" Sonic asked confused.

"Well," Amy began. "Why would he bring himself into this dimension just to leave it again? If he wanted to kill Cosmo, then why didn't he just do it immediately?"

"Like he told us before, he wants to trap us here." Knuckles suggested.

"Or maybe..." Sonic said slowly. "There's another player in this game."

* * *

Nebulous slowly landed the Nightshade in front of a stone temple, resting on a huge rock platform in what could be called the center of the Atrum. Climbing out of the ship, he approached the temple with the plant, and kneeled, waiting.

"Nebulous." Said a deep, mechanical voice, and Nebulous looked up to see a tall being approach. It wore armor that was black as night, punctuated by a green jewel on its chest, similar to the jewel that protruded from the front of the samurai-like helmet he wore. A tattered-looking cape flowed from his shoulders, and a sheathed sword rested on his hip. He reached up and removed his helmet.

Long purple hair fell to his back, and from his head grew two red horns. Sinister green eyes glared out of a purple face.

"There is no need to be so formal..." Said Lucas. "My son."

(A/N:You know the drill: REVIEW!)


	6. Revelations

Chapter 6

Revelations

(A/N: Thanks for all the reviews! Here's chapter six, so enjoy!)

* * *

"You know, it's kind of funny." Sonic said.

His friends turned to look at him. "What do you mean, Sonic?" Asked Amy.

Sonic grinned. "Tails and Cream are the ones who were wronged the worst by this idiot, and they have to stay behind to fix the Tornado so we can get out of here!"

Amy stared up at the huge staircase they had reached. Galaxina had told them that there was some sort of temple at the top of the steps, and it was more than likely that Nebulous had taken Cosmo there. On the trip there, the Mobians had learned a lot about Galaxina's past; how she was Vice-Head of the Greengate Council, and second in line to become the Head. She had also explained that she was not like the other Petalis. While they were out playing with dolls, she was usually out on her firing range, practicing with her blasters, which she said were called 'Gunarrows', and they drew their clips from her very life force. After a full day of walking, the team finally made it to the temple stairs, and quite possibly their final battle.

"Remember, guys." Sonic said. "This guy is ludicrously strong. There's a large possibility that one of us could get ki...seriously hurt. If you want to run, now's the chance."

Amy shook her head and Knuckles gave a grin. "No way, Sonic. We came with you this far, and now you want us to run? Sorry pal, but bragging rights don't come _that_ easy!"

"And I'm coming too." Said Galaxina, activating her Gunarrows. "I have something to straighten out, and I'm going to!"

Sonic nodded to his friends. "So let's go." He said, running up the stairs.

* * *

Sonic and his friends screeched to a halt at the top of the stairs. "Nebulous!" Sonic roared.

The Seedrian was standing with his back to the four heroes in front of the temple. Before him on the alter was the plant. Sonic stared. Was it just him, or was the plant emitting a faint light? He didn't have time to think about it too much, because Nebulous had turned around.

"You know...I thought I asked you not to follow me." He began. "But I guess you aren't very good listeners. Not only do you follow me, but you get help to try and stop me." He chuckled. "Hey there...sis."

"SIS?!" All three of the Mobians stared at their guide, who hung her head.

"Yeah...he's my brother. Sad, but true." She said sadly.

"Sad?" Nebulous laughed. "What's sad is that you haven't learned your lesson about sticking your neck out all the time! I mean, after that little 'incident'..."

"I...don't know what you're talking about!" Galaxina said suddenly, causing Sonic and his friends to stare at her again.

"Oh, come on!" Nebulous laughed. "You know exactly what I'm talking about! You know...the Colony?"

Galaxina frowned. "I...I..." She stammered.

Sonic and his friends leaned forward against their wills. Nebulous's grin grew wider. "Well, Galaxina? Either you tell them, or _I_ do."

Knuckles gave a deep growl. "Shut up!" He snarled angrily, but Galaxina held up a hand. She took a breath, and then began.

"I was _bored_. There was nothing to do on the ship, and I wanted to help fight the Metarex rebels any way I could. When we were forced to leave, I decided to try to collect information on the Metarex onboard our ship's computer. But I made a terrible mistake, and I accidently..." She stammered to a stop, took a deep breath, and then blurted: "I gave away the location of the Colony!"

Sonic's heart stopped as Amy's hands shot to her mouth. It was because of Galaxina that Cosmo's family was killed?!

Nebulous laughed rancorously. "And they deserved what they got! Petalis never lay down their lives for the sake of their planet, but they expected the Thorndrigans to sacrifice themselves without any emotion! And then when they had the chance of victory: they ran, expecting us to abandon our dead, as if all they had fought for was _pointless_!"

"Now _that _sounds kind of familiar..." Said Amy.

"Dark Oak." Knuckles growled. "He's your father, isn't he? And he's been here all along, giving orders to his son."

Sonic's eyes widened and Amy gasped. "Dark Oak? He's _here_?"

"Bingo! He's taking the Nightshade out for a spin at the moment, but he's here all right, alive and well! You actually think you could defeat my father? The great Lucas?!" Nebulous shouted. "Flesh-things such as yourselves could never destroy the Metarex! He has been here, in this godforsaken wasteland of a world, awaiting the moment when _I_ arrive, with his freedom in tow! That moment is now, and it is because of you, Sonic, that the Metarex will rise again! Just look!"

Nebulous swung his scythe to point at the flower on the alter, who's glow seemed to have strengthened. "It's funny, really." He grinned. "If you hadn't used Chaos Regeneration to try to save that pathetic Petali, our plans would have gone to waste! But in a matter of minutes, that plant's regeneration process will be complete, and Cosmo's death shall grant freedom to me and my Father! You, on the other hand..." He smiled at Sonic and his eye gleamed. "You and your friends will wander this dimension forever, as punishment for defying the Metarex's will. Including you, Galaxina. I see an eternity of knowing that you destroyed your kind, as much worse than death. Even though I could kill you in an instant," He snapped his fingers to emphasize the point. "and open the portal, I will spare your pitiful life. We will simply have to wait for my baby sister to revive."

Suddenly, his smile faded, and he looked almost confused. "But why did you resist in the first place?

"Living beings; plants and flesh-things alike, all desire perfection. We dream of a better world, be it Heaven, Nirvana, whatever you want to call it. We work our fingers to the bone to try to make our lives better and our planets better places to live. Yet we fear and destroy our own creations! Just as the Petalis feared and destroyed us, when my father created what could have saved our entire planet and guaranteed a future of peace and prosperity! But why? WHY?!" His voice rose to a screech and his face twisted in rage. "_WHY DO YOU FEAR PERFECTION_?!"

Galaxina grinned, looking away calmly. "That's simple, Nebby." She glared back at the maniacal assassin, aiming her Gunarrows right between his eyes. "It's because one planet doesn't have the right to screw up other worlds for their own desires!"

A sudden blast of light illuminated the entire Atrum, as Nebulous took a shocked step backward. Suddenly, Sonic realized that the light was glowing brighter, and the glow was emitting from something behind Nebulous.

The plant exploded in a burst of light and Sonic and his friends were forced to cover their eyes. Nebulous smiled as he saw a tall figure emerging from the light.

"So it begins..."

As the light faded, Sonic's eyes widened at an amazing sight. Like a wonderful dream, Cosmo stood before them. However, she looked...different...older. Her green hair had grown down to the middle of her back, and the rose buds that had been growing from the sides of her head had turned into hardy flowers. Her gem was gone, and she had grown taller, more elegant, and more beautiful. Her closed eyes opened slowly, revealing the bright, clear, warm blue eyes that Sonic and his friends remembered so well.

"Where...where am I?" She stammered. Her eyes widened as she saw her friends. She silently mouthed each of their names as she slowly looked from Amy, to Sonic, to Knuckles, to...her eyes widened. "_Galaxina_?"

As much as Galaxina would have loved to run to her sister in joy, she knew there were more important matters. She finally got her tongue unstuck, but Sonic beat her to the punch.

"Cosmo, _RUN_!" He shouted. Cosmo stared at him in shock. "He's trying to kill you!"

"Sonic? What's going..." She gave a sudden shout of surprise as she leapt gracefully over Nebulous's scythe blade, landing next to Sonic and his friends as they stared at Dark Oak's son, as he slowly turned to the five warriors. A slow grin spread across his face as he twirled his scythe.

"Cosmo...so the guest of honor has finally shown up at my little party. How I have _waited_ for this moment! Now I can have the chance to kill a Petali with my own hands, and TRULY BE MY FATHER'S SON!"

The assassin vanished in an explosion of petals, as a cloud of dark smoke spiraled around Sonic, Cosmo, and Galaxina.

"SONIC!" Amy screamed in horror as she dashed forward to her crush. Sonic turned to her and reached out in a feeble attempt to catch her hand.

And then he was gone.

The smoke cloud vanished, along with Cosmo, Galaxina, Sonic, and Amy's heart. She stared at where he had vanished, then collapsed to her knees, sobbing. Knuckles kneeled down next to the magenta hedgehog and wrapped her in a hug. Amy turned her tear-streaked face to look at the echidna. "Knuckles...what do we do...?"

Knuckles stared blankly at the place where the three had disappeared.

"Pray."

* * *

Sonic's senses were useless. He couldn't tell where he was, or where Cosmo and Galaxina were. Infinite darkness spread out before them, which seemed to ripple like the smoke that had surrounded them. "Galaxina! Cosmo!" He called. As if on cue, the darkness dispersed around him, and he had to shield his eyes from the light. As his eyes adjusted, he saw blurs of green and blue, which slowly became Cosmo and Galaxina, who were rubbing and blinking their eyes. Sonic sighed in relief to see they were all right, and only then did he look around to see where he was. His eyes bugged out as he took in his surroundings. It was a vast landscape of darkness that stretched as far as he could see, punctuated by a massive, beautiful tree that towered to a sky of black. A chill shot up his spine and Cosmo gasped.

_I...know this place_.

Suddenly a huge tornado of darkness exploded before the three, before dispersing. Nebulous stood before them, head bowed. He slowly reached up, and smoothed back the hair over his closed left eye, revealing it. Sonic and his friends stared as he slowly raised his head...and opened his eyes. Sonic gave a gasp of horror.

While one of Nebulous's eyes was a cold electric blue, the straight eye, the one hidden until now, was a color unlike none Sonic had seen before. It was a sickening, bloody-looking hazel, that glowed with an evil, demonic light. He grinned and raised his left hand high, as a huge hurricane of darkness and sakura petals amassed around it, spiraling at a tremendous speed and spewing lighting bolts. Suddenly, the twister burst, revealing his scythe, which was revolving before his hand. He closed his fist around the hilt, and slowly lowered it to his side. Suddenly, he gave a maniacal laugh, as an aura of pure darkness surrounded him and his scythe.

Sonic stared, then raised his fists. Galaxina activated her Gunarrows, and Cosmo raised her hand, then gripped something that had appeared out of nowhere-a gleaming scimitar that seemed to be made of a leaf, with a shining oval-shaped ruby on the hilt.

Sonic stared in awe. "When could you do that?!" He asked in wonder. Cosmo seemed as bewildered as he was.

"I...I don't know..." She said, looking the weapon over, then she glared back at Nebulous, who seemed mildly amused.

"Well...I guess that Chaos Regeneration gave you a couple of parlor tricks. It doesn't matter to me either way." He grinned.

"Because all three of you are going straight to Hell."

* * *

(A/N: With the return of Cosmo, a battle of good and evil is imminent. With the help of his allies, can Sonic beat the odds and defeat the evil Nebulous, or will the Metarex get a second chance at galactic domination? Find out next time, and until then, Review!)


	7. Nebulous

Chapter 7

Nebulous

(A/N: He killed Vanilla. He captured the plant. This is it. Chapter 7, in which Sonic and his new allies must combine forces to defeat Dark Oak's maniacal son. Thanks for all the wonderful reviews! Now hang on to your hats, because you're about to see what Nebulous can _really_ do.)

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"You see this?" Nebulous chuckled, and the aura of shadows that surrounded him seemed to grow. "Beings such as yourselves, Flesh-things and Petalis, could never summon this much power if you had three _lifetimes_ of training! This is the power entrusted to my father, and his father, and all the rest of the Thorndrigans, who you destroyed! And now...I will take my REVENGE!"

Sonic barely had time to react as the blunt hilt of the scythe struck him right in the forehead, sending him reeling backwards into the trunk of the tree. Galaxina aimed her Gunarrows as fast as she could, but Nebulous had the reflexes of a cat: punching her directly in the stomach, then twirling around in some sort of pirouette and swinging his scythe. The hard wooden handle struck Galaxina in the back, sending her sailing at Cosmo, who was seconds away from driving the blade of her scimitar directly into his back. Suddenly, he swung his scythe in a wide arc, slashing Sonic and sending him skidding backwards. Nebulous kicked Cosmo backwards again and had just enough time to throw a seed at Galaxina, who was taking aim with her Gunarrows. The seed exploded, sending a burst of thick smoke into her face, causing her to stumble backwards and miss by about three feet. Sonic struggled to his feet, as Galaxina waved the smoke out of her face, and Cosmo pushed herself up on her scimitar.

Nebulous laughed. "That's all?" He said, spinning his scythe casually. "That's ALL?!"

Sonic gave a snarl of rage, charging at Nebulous in a blur. Galaxina and Cosmo raised their respective armaments and hurled themselves at the assassin. Nebulous rolled his eyes...and disappeared off the face of the planet. Sonic and the two Seedrians didn't have time to stop, and with a comedic 'klonk' noise, they crashed into each other and went reeling backwards. Nebulous phased back into being on all fours. Sonic's eyes widened as he realized what he was about to do.

"He's gonna fla-!"

Suddenly, Nebulous threw himself into a wild spin, whirling on his hands, and planted a high-powered kick right into each of his opponents, in what break dancers call a flare kick. Each of them went flying in a different direction. Sonic flew through the air, directly toward a tree branch. He reached out, gripping the limb and whirling under it, sending himself boomeranging at Nebulous. The Seedrian had no time to react, and with a satisfying 'whack', Sonic's fist smashed into his face. Nebulous was sent flying backwards, landing hard on his back with an 'oof!". Sonic grinned and waved his throbbing hand.

Nebulous slowly struggled to his feet, leaned down, and picked up his scythe, which had fallen from his hands. The three heroes raised their weapons as Nebulous shook his head from side to side leisurely. "Whew...you had me worried for a minute. I thought that you weren't gonna fight back!"

Sonic stared. "Huh?" Nebulous giggled.

"I've been looking forward to this fight for...well, EVER! I actually get to fight the guy who beat my Dad., and I get to kill not one, but TWO Petalis! This is great!" He shouted. "This is what I _live _for!" The aura surrounding him grew larger and darker. Sonic's knees buckled under the sheer malice of the darkness, and Cosmo actually collapsed to her knees. Nebulous grinned insanely.

"I'M ABSOLUTELY CRAZY ABOUT IT!"

Suddenly, afterimages blitzed directly for Sonic, but this time, Sonic was ready. He quickly ducked and swept out with his foot, catching Nebulous behind the knees, but Nebulous simply allowed himself to fall, rolling backwards on his elbow and using his momentum to begin another flare kick. Sonic blocked the kick and was knocked backwards, skidding on his feet. Nebulous ended the spin and dove forward, and was intercepted by Cosmo, who swung her scimitar and was blocked by Nebulous. He pushed Cosmo away and deflected Sonic's punch, and the three of them began a heated battle. They moved around the tree, striking and parrying, advancing and retreating. Sonic and Cosmo kept a steady offensive, but it was warded off by Nebulous, who seemed to be enjoying himself immensely.

Galaxina, meanwhile, was circling the battlefield, looking for an opening to fire. Unfortunately, the three were moving too fast for her to fire safely. At least, it was unsafe to fire with normal blasters...

Galaxina held both blasters out before her, with the tips of the needles touching, as she pulled both triggers. Instantly, a high pitch whine filled the air and the needles began to glow neon blue. Blinding blue energy began to amass around the front of the Gunarrows, crackling with black electricity as the whine grew louder. Galaxina called to her two friends.

"Everyone down!" She shouted, and pulled the needles apart. Instantly, the gigantic blue arrow of energy rocketed forward, knocking Galaxina onto her rear. Sonic and Cosmo looked up in surprise and leapt away. Nebulous didn't have a chance to dodge, however, and the laser blast impacted against him. With an explosion that shook petals off the tree behind them, the laser sent Nebulous sailing backwards, trailing smoke. His scythe flew high into the air, spinning like a baton. Sonic leapt up as high as he could, grabbed a branch, launched himself higher, and grabbed the scythe. Landing on his feet, he dashed towards Nebulous, who was slowly struggling to his feet. With a roar, Sonic pulled the scythe back, then swung it like a golf club, slashing Nebulous into the air. Nebulous went flying with a cry of shock and pain, his aura seeming to fade.

But Sonic didn't stop there. He pursued Nebulous into the air, swinging the scythe as hard and fast as he could, slashing Nebulous repeatedly and knocking him higher and higher into the air. Finally, with a swing like a baseball bat, he smacked Nebulous far away, then used the swing's momentum to spin, flinging the scythe directly at the assassin, which sliced right through him. Sonic landed on his feet, as Nebulous toppled out of the air, landing hard on the planet's surface and kicking up a dust cloud. Galaxina and Cosmo stared.

"I...is it over?" Cosmo said hesitantly. The cloud slowly began to clear away, and a shape slowly became visible. Suddenly, a glimmering knife launched out of the cloud directly at Cosmo. Cosmo held up her scimitar to block it, but when the knife struck, the sheer force not only broke the knife, but it sent the sword flying out of Cosmo's hand. Cosmo desperately tried to grab it again, but it spiraled away and clattered to the ground. Sonic's eyes widened.

It was Nebulous...and he didn't seem to have a scratch on him. In fact, he looked ecstatic. His aura was restored, and if anything, it seemed to be growing. "Incredible. I never imagined my scythe would answer to _you_ of all people, Hedgehog. You truly are the one who beat my father. And Galaxina...that overcharged blast thingy...that actually hurt..." He chuckled as he floated into the air, then giggled madly. "It _HURT_!"

He threw his arms out, and the darkness enveloping him exploded outwards, covering the entire arena, hiding all but the fighters and the tree behind them. The beautiful roses covering the tree glowed suddenly, and burst apart, turning into a gigantic storm of glowing petals, which spiraled around the heros. The petals swirled around, but suddenly stopped. Sonic and his friends stared as the petals began to glow, until they were simply shining orbs. Suddenly, Sonic realized what was about to happen. He also realized, to his horror, that there was no way for him to stop it: they were going to fire too fast.

Galaxina stared around them. _Oh, great. THIS attack! I don't think I'll be able to stop this unless I use my new move...I've never used it in combat before, but if I don't, we're all doomed!_

Galaxina slowly raised her blasters high above her head, and began to spin them. They whirled faster and faster, and began to glow blinding white, until they were simply swirling vortexes of white light. Nebulous grinned insanely and held his open hand outstretched before him.

"GAME OVER!" He shouted, clenching his fist. Instantly, the orbs of light rocketed directly towards the heros, just as Galaxina launched her attack: sending countless white arrows in all directions. The orbs and arrows impacted against each other, and a deafening series of explosions filled the air, and a blinding light obliterated all senses.

Nebulous stared down at the cloud of smoke below him, as explosions burst from its surface, and he grinned. "Completely obliterated. Game...set..." He reached into his pocket, pulling something out: a banana Dum Dum Pop. He unwrapped it and placed it in his mouth. "Match."

Suddenly, the smoke cleared, and Nebulous swallowed the lollipop, stick and all.

They were alive. Galaxina was on her knees, looking ashen and drained, but the three of them were quite plainly alive. Nebulous snarled. "Well, there goes my last good nerve..." He descended slowly and hefted his scythe. "I'm getting kind of bored of this...so I guess this is goodbye, baby sister..."

Cosmo turned to run for her scimitar. Nebulous chuckled, and flung a seed at his fleeing sister. The seed burst into smoke, and a heavy bola whirled out of the cloud. It struck Cosmo's legs, wrapping around them. Cosmo let out a cry of shock as she toppled over and fell hard on her stomach. Sonic ran at the Seedrian, who simply waved his hand. Vines burst from the ground, wrapping around the waists of Sonic and Galaxina and lifting them off the ground, but keeping their arms free. Nebulous didn't even notice and continued toward the fallen Cosmo, who struggled even harder. Sonic turned to Galaxina.

"Can you shoot him?" He asked.

Galaxina held up one of her Gunarrows. The needle and spiked diamonds were gone. "Sorry...after my overcharge...and that energy barrage...my life force's level...has fallen too low...and triggered the auto-safeties...I can't fire anymore..." She panted, looking more exhausted then ever.

Nebulous slowly walked to Cosmo, grinning. "We learned a lot about you, White Seed, from the implant...your ideals, your personality...you kept saying over and over that you were no good...I disagree."

Sonic turned to Galaxina. "Give me your gun."

Nebulous loomed over Cosmo, who stared in fear at the assassin. "You are about to prove yourself very useful..." He raised his scythe. "In death!"

Galaxina tossed Sonic the gun, who caught it and aimed. Instantly, a blue needle erupted from the front of the blaster, and blue ammo appeared on the handgrip.

Nebulous brought his scythe crashing down at the same time Sonic fired. Cosmo scooted backwards, and the scythe missed, slicing through the ropes binding her legs. The bullet fired behind them both, striking Cosmo's sword from where it lay on the ground.

With a clang, the scimitar flew high into the air...

Nebulous immediately recovered and swung his scythe again, but Cosmo leaped out of the way, landing on her feet.

The scimitar stopped rising, and slowly began to fall...

Nebulous let out a howl of rage, charging at Cosmo. Cosmo dodged his vicious swing, a swing that left his heart completely exposed...

The scimitar toppled out of the air, and Cosmo caught it. Nebulous' eyes widened in shock and horror as Cosmo lunged forward, driving the blade into the assassin's wicked heart.

Time seemed to stop.

Then slowly...ever so slowly... Nebulous, the son of Lucas, toppled over dead.

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(A/N: YAY! They did it! Goodness prevails! But don't count this story over, because it's not finished yet; they still have to take out Oak! Read and review, please, and look forward to the next installment.)


	8. Light

Chapter 8

Light

(A/N: Well, this is it. The end of the story. Thank you for the reviews, all of you. There is some good news; there might..._might_...be a sequel. Maybe. Until then, enjoy the conclusion to Nebulous!)

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The vines wrapped around Sonic and Galaxina withered and turned to dust, dropping them on their feet, or in Galaxina's case, knees. Cosmo stared at Nebulous's lifeless form, which was crumpled on the ground.

"I...I don't...I didn't...want to...to kill..." She stammered. Sonic shook his head.

"Cosmo..." He said. "That was incredible!" Galaxina nodded slowly and managed a weak grin.

Suddenly, the world around Sonic and his friends began to shimmer and evaporate, like the smoke that had surrounded them. Sonic stared as their surroundings vanished, revealing the Atrum and temple. Amy was on her knees, with her face in her hands, and her shoulders were shaking. Knuckles had his arms around her, softly rubbing her back. When he looked up, his eyes widened.

"Guys!"

Amy slowly looked up and wiped her eyes. Suddenly, she jumped up and leaped into Sonic's arms, sobbing into his shoulder. Sonic hesitated, and then wrapped his arms around her.

"I'm so glad you're back..." Amy said softly. Galaxina chuckled from where she kneeled on the ground.

"We never left. That had to be one of the best illusions I've ever seen, and Nebulous had some good ones. I know."

Suddenly, the ground gave a mighty lurch, knocking Cosmo, Sonic, Amy and Knuckles over, and a loud whooshing noise filled the air. The team turned to look at the temple. An obelisk-like spire rose out of the top of the building, glowing with a blinding white light. With a sound like an electrical discharge, a huge white laser burst from the top of it, striking what seemed to be an invisible wall in the sky. Sonic stared up in amazement as a new rip appeared in the bottomless sky of darkness, revealing a spiraling tunnel of rainbow light. "The portal..."

"Nebulous was the one who opened the portal to get us here! Now that he's dead, the rift opened!" Knuckles shouted over the din. "Come on, we gotta get to the X-Tornado!"

"No need!" A familiar voice yelled, as a shadow passed over the group. The team craned their necks to see the X-Tornado hovering overhead. Cosmo glanced back at Sonic.

"The X-Tornado...Tails..."

Sonic chuckled. "Everyone came...Tails, Cream, all of us...we told you before, Cosmo, you're our friend." He paused, then a mischievous grin spread across his face. "Hey Cosmo...hide."

Cosmo stared, then a small smile formed across her face, as she turned and hid behind a pillar.

Tails and Cream leaned out the window as a rope ladder fell from the cockpit, and the two descended from the Tornado, which hovered in the air. Tails ran to the rest of the team.

"Guys, perfect timing! We just finished the Tornado when the portal opened! Now we can leave. Where's Nebulous?" He asked quickly.

Sonic chuckled, stepping to the side and revealing Nebulous' lifeless form. Cream gasped. "An old friend helped." Explained Sonic. He smiled, and turned to the temple, jerking his head in a signal. Cosmo slowly stepped out from the temple.

A piercing silence filled the Atrum. Tail's eyes widened in shock and disbelief. "C...c..._cosmo_?"

Cosmo nodded. "Hi, Tails..."

"COSMO!" Tails dashed forward, leaping into Cosmo's arms, sobbing wholeheartedly. "I...'hic' I thought I would...would never see you again!"

Cosmo held the fox tightly. "Shh...I'm back, Tails, and I won't ever leave again..."

Knuckles grinned, then his smile faded. "Guys! We don't have time for this!"

"He's right." Everyone turned to Galaxina, who was shakily trying to get to her feet. "That portal's not gonna stay open forever. We have to leave." She tried to stand, but her legs gave out from under her, and she collapsed to one knee. "I'll be fine..." She said, trying again and succeeding, although she did stumble a bit. She reached into a hidden pocket and pulled out a small vial of pills. Pouring two out, she popped them into her mouth.

"Seedrian ration pills. They should tide me over for now." She explained

Tails turned to Cosmo. "Let's go home." He said, and the team ran to the X-Tornado.

Sonic, however, did not head right to the Tornado. Instead, he walked to Nebulous' body. Leaning down slowly, he picked up the scythe, then extracted Cosmo's scimitar from his chest. He looked the scythe over with a strange expression on his face.

"SONIC!" Knuckles shouted from the Tornado. "LET'S GO, MAN!" Sonic dashed to the Tornado as it began to take off, jumping onto one of the wings, then into the open cockpit. The Tornado turned to the slowly-shrinking portal and hit the accelerators, launching toward the gateway.

"We're gonna make it...we're gonna make it...we're gonna make it..." Tails chanted softly.

"LOOK OUT!" Cream shouted.

Tails turned a hard left as something blazed past them: something silver and red...

"The...the Nightshade!" Cream shouted. "But if Nebulous is dead, who's flying that thing?"

Sonic's eyes narrowed. "Three guesses..."

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The Tornado exploded out of the spiraling portal seconds before it vanished into nothing, sealing the Atrum once again. Tails let out a slow, steady breath.

"We made it..." He said.

Sonic was scanning the infinite space around them. Suddenly he stopped and his eyes narrowed.

"There..."

Everyone followed his eyes to see the Nightshade hovering before them. As they watched, the ship turned and rocketed toward a familiar blue and green object in the sky.

"He's heading for Mobius!" Knuckles growled. "After him!"

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The Nightshade broke through the atmosphere and leveled out, hovering once more. The Tornado burst through the clouds after the silver ship, gliding slowly to the ground. The cockpit burst open and the Mobians and Seedrians leaped out.

"LUCAS!" Shouted Sonic, swinging Nebulous' scythe.

A small hole opened on the belly of the ship, beaming down a pillar of light. With a flash, a being appeared with his back turned, a being that Cosmo and her friends had seen in their nightmares for the last three years...

"Take a look at this planet." Lucas began.

"Another monologue, oy..." Galaxina rolled her eyes.

"This place is like a desert, practically devoid of plant life...and I had a dream to change all that." The Metarex leader continued. "I dreamed of a paradise, devoid of animal life and abundant with plants. And thanks to you..." He turned to them. "That dream will never come true..."

"Dark Oak!" Cosmo shouted. "No...how are you alive?!"

Lucas gave a gravelly chuckle. "I told you once before...one girl cannot stop the Metarex. However, I humbly admit your meddling became very annoying. You ruined my plan for forestation, forced me to spend three years trapped in that accursed Atrum...and you killed my son." He slowly reached up, pressing the large green jewel on his chest. "For these infractions against the Metarex, you will not be forgiven."

With a hiss, steam burst from every orifice in his armor, and it collapsed off him.

"Umm...you realize you just took _off_ your armor, right?" Sonic said, confused.

Lucas removed his helmet and shook his head to clear up his helmet-hair. "I removed my armor..." He said, tossing the helmet aside. "So I wouldn't destroy it when I did _**THIS**_!"

Suddenly, the purple Thorndrigan gave a primal roar, and he began to grow: taller and taller, until he towered above the team. His red horns became longer and thicker with sharp, twig-like spikes protruding from it. His teeth turned to fangs, and his eyes became yellowish, with slits for pupils, like a snake. The monster's shape changed, until it looked like some sort of tree-tyrannosaurus. Within seconds, Lucas had transformed into a horrible monster. Galaxina's eyes widened.

"He's _done_ it..."

So that's the beast-form that the hologram was talking about?" Amy asked.

"Yeah...and now that he's used it-LOOK OUT!" Galaxina ordered, pulling Amy down as Lucas' tail whipped over them, as the rest of the team hit the deck.

Lucas gave a roaring laugh. "You see this?! This is the power that I created, the power that Hertia feared, the power that could have saved our planet!" He raised his foot and brought it crashing down. Mobians scattered in all directions as the foot created a reasonably sized crater.

"And now, you're gonna see what this power can do!"

Sonic tossed Cosmo her scimitar as Galaxina whipped out both of her Gunarrows. With a flick of her wrists, the guns were loaded once more with pink bullets.

"I'm ba-ack!" She shouted, and fired a barrage of laser shots directly at the massive tree-monster. Unfortunately, the projectiles merely bounced off the huge beast. Galaxina's eyes narrowed. Placing the barrels of her blasters together, she began to charge them. Unfortunately, Lucas saw her, swinging his tail and catching her in the chest, sending her sailing backwards. Knuckles dove forward, catching the flying Seedrian and the two went flying into a tree.

"Gal...Galaxina...are you alright?" Knuckles choked.

"I'm fine...thanks." Galaxina said, jumping up and helping Knuckles to his feet. "But we got a real battle on our hands. That thing's got no known weaknesses!"

The two stared as Sonic, Cream, Amy, Tails and Cosmo battled the fearsome creature, or rather tried to stay out of the way of the lashing tail, snapping jaws, and crushing stomps. Amy swung her hammer down on the creature's toe as hard as she could, but the monster merely lashed his tail like a javelin. Amy's eyes widened and she brought her hammer up to block the tail, and it impacted with the force of an old Ford. Amy let out a fresh howl of pain as a horrible crack filled the air. Amy's left arm had broken, and she was sent flying backward, skidding on the ground. Cosmo leapt into the air, raising her scimitar, but Lucas saw her, opening his jaws wide as a huge blast of white energy burst from them. Cosmo was blasted backwards, her scimitar blocking the worst of the laser, but she was still knocked back, crashing to the ground and kicking up dust. Tails ran to save her, but a massive clawed foot kicked him away, sending him crashing into Cream, and the two of them went tumbling down a hill. Sonic frantically scooped Amy up as a foot slammed down where she was mere seconds before.

Sonic looked down at his girlfriend. "Amy, are you okay?"

Amy gripped her arm and cringed. "I think it's my arm..." She said.

Sonic lay her down against a rock. "Wait here." He said, pulling out Nebulous' scythe and running to the monster. Lucas opened his mouth and let out a roar, accompanied by a massive mouth-laser. Sonic dashed out of the way, dodged a stomp...and was hit by Lucas' tail, sending him sprawling. Staring upwards, he saw Lucas open his mouth, preparing for another laser attack. Sonic held the scythe out and braced himself; Lucas fired and the weapon blocked the laser, digging Sonic deeper into the ground. Sonic struggled to hold the weapon out, but the blast was slowly pushing the scythe toward him. If he stopped, he would be roasted. If he kept it up, he would be crushed. Sonic closed his eyes...

Suddenly, the torrent of power stopped, and Lucas let out a deafening scream. Sonic stared at the massive creature as it staggered backward rubbing its eye, out of which protruded a pink diamond-like bullet. The hedgehog jumped to his feet, staring at Galaxina, who merely grinned and pointed toward the blinded monster. Sonic glanced up to see Knuckles bring his fist back and slam it into Lucas' injured eye. The beast let out a howl and swatted Knuckles away, then screeched as Cosmo's scimitar stabbed into his other eye. He swung his head wildly, dislodging Cosmo who went flying into a tree.

Now blinded, Lucas flailed his arms, trying to swat Tails and Cream out of the air, who were flying around his head, Tails firing his arm cannon and Cream flinging Cheese. With a deafening roar, Lucas fired a wild blast of energy knocking Cream and Tails out of the sky, then bringing his arm up to deflect a barrage of bullets fired by Galaxina. "You...little...freaks!" He shouted, then let out a roar as Sonic toppled out of the sky, bringing the Scythe down and slashing Lucas viciously. Sonic landed, grinning up at the Thorndrigan. He raised his arm and aimed the scythe at the wounded beast. Amy struggled to her feet, slowly limped toward Sonic, and placed her hand over his, followed by Knuckles, Tails, Cosmo, Galaxina, and Cream. Lucas was incredulous.

"HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN?! NO!" He shouted. Sonic grinned as an aura appeared around the scythe. This one, however was an aura of pure light.

"You killed my mother..." Said Cream.

"You destroyed my clan..." Said Cosmo.

"You threatened my friends..." Said Knuckles.

"You destroyed my planet..." Said Galaxina.

"You ruined countless lives..." Said Tails

"But you can't cheat death twice!" Said Amy

"So this time, Lucas...STAY DOWN!" Sonic shouted, firing a huge blast of light through the evil monster. Lucas screamed as the blast ripped through his body.

"_**I HAVE THE TRUE POWER OF THE THORNDRIGANS!**_" He bellowed as cracks formed across his body, light shining out of them. "_**THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE! I CANNOT LOSE TO FREAKS LIKE YOU! I AM DARK OAK! I CANNOT...NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!**_"

There was a huge explosion, forcing the team to cover their eyes. When the light faded, Sonic and his friends stared in amazement as the smoke cleared.

Lucas was lying on his back, his dead, empty eyes staring at the sky.

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(A/N: HOORAY! Dark Oak is dead for real this time! Thanks for sticking with this story to the end, and thank you so much for all the wonderful reviews! The universe is saved, and this story is at a close...or is it?)

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Epilogue

Five Years Later

Knuckles and Galaxina stepped into the Café Chaotic. Vector glanced up from where he was bussing a table.

"Galaxina, Knuckles! It's good to see you! They're right over there." The crocodile said, gesturing to a table in a corner of the café, where Tails, Cosmo, Amy, Sonic and Cream sat. "But, uh...you seem to be a head short."

Knuckles and Galaxina turned back to the door, where a little blue echidna stood, hiding behind the frame. He had bright, clear violet eyes and light blue fur, except for the tips of his dreadlocks, which were light red, The crescent on his chest was red as well.

"Don't worry, Charybdis! Vector's a good guy. Come on in." Galaxina told him.

The echidna slowly stepped out from where he hid, and ran to his father, who lifted him up onto his shoulder, getting a giggle from the three-year-old, and the family walked to their friends.

"Hey, guys!" Sonic smiled. "Wow, the little guy's gotten big!"

"Hi, Uncle Sonic!" Charybdis squeaked. "I'm three years old!" He held up four fingers, getting a laugh from the team. Knuckles got a high-chair for his child, and he and his wife sat down at the table next to Sonic and his wife.

"So what've you been up to?" Asked Galaxina.

"We visited Vanilla's grave." Amy said. "Cream still has nightmares now and then, but she's usually fine."

"Except when she has nightmares..." Quipped Sonic, earning a playful glare from his adopted daughter.

"I had a nightmare last night..." Said Cosmo. "I dreamed that I was back on the colony, when it got attacked by the Metarex. It was horrible..."

Tails glanced up at Espio, who had just asked him what he wanted to drink. "Water, please." He turned back to the group, putting an arm over Cosmo's shoulders.

"Don't worry, Cosmo...everything's over. The Metarex are gone, and they're not coming back."

KABOOM!

A massive explosion rocked the café, knocking everyone out of their chairs. Knuckles dove for Charybdis, catching him seconds before the chair toppled over. Sonic jumped up, glaring out the window. A massive, red egg-shaped robot was rampaging through the street. Amy hefted her hammer.

"Eggman!" She shouted.

"About time! I hope this one's tougher than the last one!" Her husband shouted as their daughter whistled. Cheese, now a full-grown angel Chaos Chao, flew through the window and landed on his master's shoulder. Tails pulled out his arm cannon and his girlfriend drew her scimitar.

"Vector, watch Charybdis!" Knuckles told the Crocodile, as his wife whipped out her Gunarrows.

"Everyone ready? Then let's go!" Shouted Sonic, as he and his friends dashed out of the Café.

_Watch out, Eggman, you're going down!_

The End


End file.
